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00:14The glittering metropolis of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates and home to the
00:2032nd running of the legendary Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, round two of the W2RC World Championship.
00:28Pre-event checks gave the competitors a chance to catch up for the first time since January's
00:33Dakar. Sam Sunderland and Kevin Benavides will miss this year's event because of injury but
00:41the bikes will be as close as ever. Lining up for Honda, Quintanilla, Brabeck, Corneo and Van Beveren.
00:54While Toby Price leads the KTM charge alongside young hotshot Mason Klein. On the Hero Machines,
01:02Botswana's Ross Branch with Sebastian Bula. Fresh off the back of a commanding victory on the Dakar is
01:10Nasser Alatia hunting his fourth Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge win. Dakar runner-up Sebastian Loeb returned
01:17to Abu Dhabi eager to go one better. And Saudi Arabia's Yazid Al-Rajji on top form could not be
01:25overlooked either.
01:28The T3 class promised to be super tight with Dakar winner Austin Jones up against teammates
01:35Seth Quintaro and Mitch Guthrie in the Red Bull off-road junior team.
01:43The pre-event press conference as ever provided a great opportunity for everyone to share valuable insight
01:50into what could be expected from the event. A chance for media and rivals to hear from the expected frontrunners.
02:10The event kicked off with the traditional short prologue stage. A full sand affair just 6.7 kilometres
02:16to determine the starting order for the first main stage.
02:20Picking up where he left off on the Dakar, Nasser Alatia was four seconds quicker than anyone.
02:26Five long days and nearly 2,000 kilometres lay ahead for the drivers and riders,
02:31taking them into some of the most remote desert expanses on the planet.
02:43It's part of my life, you know, being the founder of Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge,
02:48when the challenges were there. It means a lot to me because, you know,
02:51to see something that I invested 30 years of my life, over 30 in it,
02:56where it went up and down and the challenges were there,
02:59and to see it is very, I'm attached to it also.
03:04It's about also the championship that I'm pushing with the team to make sure it grows.
03:09We cannot only have the birth, we have to take care of this baby newborn.
03:17Never underestimate the dunes of Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
03:21This part of the world is very demanding. It's demanding on the cars,
03:26on both the driver and the co-driver, and also on the organisers.
03:30So I would say well done to them. I'm always here with an open mind.
03:35I am from the desert. I understand it. It's beautiful.
03:39And I wish them a very safe event.
03:48The rumours representative caught Al Dhafa Region Stage 1,
03:52promised 242 kilometres of flat-out racing through Abu Dhabi's biggest dunes.
04:10A stunning desert sunrise greeted the riders as they gathered at the stage start, eager to get away.
04:18Ross Branch finished Stage 1 in third.
04:21The happy-go-lucky Botswana rider on the hero machine just keeps getting better and better.
04:27A Dakar stage winner couldn't do the same in Abu Dhabi.
04:31Longtime beach racer turned desert dune specialist,
04:34Agen van Beveren is at home in the sand at a real contender for victory.
04:40A great opening ride on the Honda CRF 450, van Beveren's second fastest.
04:47But out front, repeating his prologue performance, Pablo Quintanilla topping the timesheets in the stage to lead the bikes overall.
04:55His strategy to choose 11th starting position worked perfectly.
05:00Everything played into the Chilean riders' hands.
05:02He led for Honda and even had enough time for some showboating.
05:09We did a good stage for our team.
05:13The bike felt really good.
05:16The groove is really strong.
05:19When you feel good on the bike, the confidence is coming.
05:23And also the rhythm and the speed.
05:26So I think it's a mix of everything.
05:28And yeah, it was a good day, but it's just a stage number one.
05:33With the prologue coefficient rule taken into account,
05:36Toby Price jumped up to third behind van Beveren and Quintanilla.
05:48History must have seemed like it was repeating itself in Abu Dhabi for Sebastian Loeb.
05:54The start of a 3,000-kilometre rally and we've only done 30.
05:59As the BRX Hunter ground to a halt with overheating issues,
06:02the nine-time world rally champion and co-driver Fabien Lequin were forced to stop for repairs.
06:10We'll do the best we can.
06:11We started today as points leaders, so we'll try and hang on to that, but we'll see at the end.
06:18It's not great mentally, not good motivation, but here we are.
06:22We'll see how much we've lost.
06:24We've prepared it, so we'll see how long it lasts.
06:27The duo forged on.
06:33But their day would finish on the end of a tow rope as they were recovered to the bivouac for
06:39the engineers to assess the situation.
06:44In the early going, Loeb's teammate Guerlain Chicharette enjoyed a tight battle with defending champion Nasser Aletia.
06:52But then he also stopped struggling with chronic motion sickness, possibly a legacy of his big Dakar crash just over
07:00a month ago.
07:04It's hell. I felt more or less okay, but I know it's not going well.
07:09And then it hits me, bam.
07:12I can't see the top of the dunes.
07:15I'm very, very disappointed.
07:20It's very frustrating.
07:27While it was a bad day for ProDrive, it was a very good day for Toyota.
07:31Three-time Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge winner Nasser Aletia started by chasing his rivals through the stage.
07:38And there was no repeat for him of last year's first stage dramas.
07:42He raced away to win the opening stage by over six minutes.
07:52The dunes were also kind to Yazeed Al-Raji.
07:55The Saudi claimed a fine third on the Dakar and was fourth on the ProLugue, only 11 seconds behind four
08:01-time winner Aletia.
08:02At the end of day one in the dunes, he lay second overall.
08:10A six-minute lead for Aletia with Al-Raji only 13 seconds ahead of third-placed Henk Lettigan in an
08:17all-Toyota top three.
08:19With Aletia picking up five bonus points for winning the stage, the Qatari would take over the provisional lead of
08:25the W2RC.
08:36California's Seth Quintero looked unstoppable in T3.
08:39Still looking for his first World Championship win alongside co-driver Dennis Sense.
08:44The pair started their bid well, topping the timesheets to lead overall going into day two.
08:49The dunes have a love-hate relationship. I love them, or I hate them, to be honest, because it gets
08:53hot, slow, treacherous.
08:56But for some reason, we always seem to do well on them, and that's exactly what we did today.
09:00Looks like we're probably like sixth overall in top cars, so super stoked on that.
09:04Good way to start the rally. Hopefully we can continue this and then have a good time for the rest
09:07of the week.
09:09Quintero's teammate Austin Jones also had a strong day in the dunes.
09:13Seven minutes sounds like a big lead, but in the desert, that can evaporate in an instant.
09:23Quintero led after day one in T3 with Jones in hot pursuit. The battle lines were drawn.
09:30And this is how things stacked up in the W2RC Championship. Could Jones reel in Quintero?
09:44Day one was a disaster for Cristina Gutierrez. She had to be rescued after running out of fuel.
09:56Gutierrez was not alone. Running out of fuel in the desert inevitably costs a huge amount of time, as Alex
10:02McInnis also discovered.
10:07I ran kilometer 150 and my bike cut out and I ran out of fuel, which is unfortunate. I was
10:13sitting there for two hours waiting for fuel.
10:18Yeah, the bike is a lot more heavy when we have both tanks full. There's five liters in the back
10:22and 17 in the front.
10:24So when both are full, it's a bit heavier. But the main thing is we're on enduro bikes compared to
10:30the big rally bikes.
10:31This holds less fuel. So we sort of have to manage our fuel a bit more.
10:36We're ready for for a certain amount and a certain distance. But yeah, it's.
10:43This is not true.
10:49My role is telling that. No, you know, I manage.
10:54In the desert, you can't just pull into a fuel station. So official fuel supplier Adnok Distribution brings the gas
11:00station to the competitors.
11:04When it comes to fuel, we don't take risks. We go with a full tank. In the sand, we use
11:10a lot of fuel.
11:12Because we have to manage the navigation, it's important to leave a little margin for error, too.
11:18As well as that, it's cool to see where we are refueling. It helps us to work out where we
11:24are in the race.
11:28Yeah, I don't know if Ross and I are the the strategist. We don't really we don't really know what's
11:34going on.
11:35We're trying to figure it out right now. But yeah, quick math. We're not good at. We're going to need
11:41a calculator.
11:41So without Adnok Distribution's fuel, the entire event would grind to a halt.
11:54Spain's power Navarro was third in T4, just over a minute behind second.
11:58And he was the second best placed W2RC driver. So everything to fight for.
12:11Local heroes Mansur El Hele and Mohamed El Hamri had a strong day on home sand.
12:16Four minutes and 15 off the lead. With four more long hot days of action to go, that margin could
12:21vanish in a moment.
12:25The overnight leader is not new to being the hunted, however. Lithuania's Rukas Pachuska was the 12th starter right after
12:32the best of the T1 cars.
12:34And he opened up a slender advantage during a day which was every bit as challenging as promised.
12:39It was a tough day, you know. It was hot. 38 degrees. My driver was sickness. He little bit blue,
12:46you know, in the front of the stomach.
12:47But we survived, you know. First day the organisation said it would be difficult, hot. And yeah, it tastes like
12:52that.
12:53Tomorrow is another day and we will see how it's going on.
12:57The favourite for Victory was living up to his pre-event billing. But with four long hot days ahead, nothing
13:03was set.
13:07And with W2RC Championship points at stake, the pressure was on.
13:18Stage 2 presented by Adnok Distribution and a short road section before the stage starts with 257 competitive kilometres before
13:28reaching the finish line.
13:35Another early start for the riders in the W2RC and a long day of competition ahead.
13:43Skyler Howes on the Escbana made good use of his strong start position and ran the majority of the stage
13:49in second place.
13:55The American finished one minute and 44 seconds off the pace to eventually finish third.
14:00But his day's work was not yet done.
14:04Today definitely got pretty warm out there. It was really hot and really physically demanding.
14:09And it's the marathon stage, so we got to take care of the bike and got a little bit of
14:12work to do today.
14:13So hopefully we can get that checked off and be ready for tomorrow.
14:19The fastest of the Honda factory riders on day two was Jose Ignacio Corneo Florimo on the CRF 450.
14:27The Chilean second quickest in what was a smooth run through the desert to lie fourth overall.
14:41The convincing winner of the stage on his Escbana was Luciana Benavides.
14:47He arrived at the first checkpoint fourth fastest, but by kilometre 76 had taken the lead by two seconds and
14:54went on to extend that to over a minute by the finish line.
14:57The Argentine moved up to third in the overall standings.
15:05The last week has been really, really tough for me with the accident of my brother and also many ups
15:11and downs.
15:12So finally to get the stage win and get the confidence back is something really nice.
15:16Tomorrow is another tough day I had to open. So, yeah, it's going to be a hard challenge, but I'm
15:23ready to do it.
15:25Two stages in and things already changing in the bikes on a daily basis.
15:35An added challenge after the day stage was the marathon aspect.
15:40And that means only a limited time to work on the machine and only the rider can do so.
15:52Fastest of the quads through stage two, Lithuania's Lovistus Kansius.
15:57After problems on day one, he rode flat out to drag himself back into contention and move up to second
16:03overall.
16:08After two stages, local hero Abdulaziz Ali remained on course to make it three Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge wins in
16:15a row.
16:21South African Henk Lettingen lay second overnight, but was forced out of the dunes with a misfire.
16:28We started the stage off OK. Everything was going well. And shortly after that, we started getting a misfire.
16:35Unfortunately, we couldn't fix the problem. So we came out the stage and back to the bivouac to save the
16:42engine for tomorrow.
16:43So the mechanics and engineers will work today and tonight to see if we can get it back up and
16:49running and carry on for tomorrow.
16:53Points are available for winning each of the stages as well as for overall victory.
16:58Nasser Alatia was chasing them all and claimed victory on stage two by almost eight minutes.
17:03The Toyota once more proved as fast and bulletproof as it had on the Dakar.
17:10Yeah, it's a very difficult stage and not easy. We have two times big impact, you know, and it's a
17:18little bit shoulders, not really 100%. But OK, we finish and we're quite happy.
17:27Saudi Arabia's Yazid Al-Raji finished stage one in a fantastic second position overall. His pace on the Dakar had
17:35hinted at such potential.
17:36Now he was delivering. But in the technical dunes of Abu Dhabi, it's all too easy to give time away
17:44if you're too cautious or too eager.
17:48Al-Raji paced himself perfectly, opening up the gap on his pursuers.
17:56Almost the first thing Martin Prokop saw on stage two was a struggling Toyota.
18:01From very early on, he'd have known he was potentially up to third overall.
18:06A little under four minutes behind second place to Al-Raji's Toyota overnight.
18:10The Ford driver lost a further two minutes and 41 seconds.
18:14But after two days in the desert, would go to bed happy and on the podium in third overall.
18:25With two wins on two stages, Nasser Al-Atiyah continued to lead as his rivals hit trouble.
18:35W2RC contender Martin Prokop had a strong day moving up to third. Good progress from the Czech driver.
18:48The co-driver's role in rally raids is greatly misunderstood.
18:53Sébastien Loeb and Fabien Lequin give us the lowdown.
18:58Co-driver's role in rally raid is hyper important. I think it's 50% of the job.
19:06Our job is to avoid mistakes. We're not always in the spotlight.
19:09But here, where the cars and drivers are so equal, the co-driver can make the difference.
19:20In rally raid, there's also navigation with waypoints, tracks to find, so the co-driver's role is hyper important.
19:30No matter how fast you go, with bad direction, it's nothing.
19:34If the driver slows down too much in a valley, you've lost a few seconds.
19:38You have to keep in mind the principle is to keep the car on four wheels rather than going fast.
19:43You have to keep the car on four wheels rather than going fast.
19:47You have to keep the car on four wheels rather than going fast.
19:54With the driver, you create a code. Otherwise, it's too repetitive for him.
20:00I need to give him the details he needs to win the race.
20:06We both have the same way of approaching the navigation.
20:08We both know a little bit about it, and we're always working to optimize our system.
20:14And it's starting to go well.
20:29Sweden's Matthias Ekström, who drove for Audi on the Dakar, won T3 on Stage 3,
20:34having run out of fuel the previous day.
20:36Otherwise, he'd have been right in the class fight.
20:47We had to take care about the car for the temperature.
20:50And except for this, we had a clean day, no big issues.
20:54And yeah, just happy to have a nice day.
20:58Ekström showing great speed, but nowhere near the front of the pack in T3.
21:05And for our W2RC competitors, the point's all still up for grabs.
21:20Spain's Panavaro lay third after the first day.
21:23And despite finishing third again, because of a penalty for Mansour Al-Haley,
21:29he leapfrogged the Emirati to go second.
21:38Rokas Patiuszka retained the T4 lead despite losing time on Stage 2.
21:43Co-driver Oriel Vidal-Montillano had been sick on the previous day,
21:47but more than made up for it when the Can-Am buggy struck trouble.
21:51I got one stuck in the dunes, but we gained faster.
21:55You know, the co-driver get out and push the buggy and we go again.
22:01Taking no chances, they accepted a tow back to the Bivouac.
22:07Local heroes Mansour Al-Haley and Mohamed Al-Hamri had a strong day one
22:11and were fastest on day two, which would have given them the lead
22:15had they not picked up a 15-minute penalty for missing a way point,
22:18dropping them from second to third.
22:24Even with a lead of a little over nine minutes,
22:26there could be no backing off for the leader.
22:33And the W2RC contenders continue to rack up the points.
22:42Abu Dhabi 360, Stage 3, the rally's midpoint.
22:47266 competitive kilometres,
22:49an almost 50-50 mix of dunes and sandy tracks.
22:57The start of the stage lay just two kilometres from the Bivouac,
23:01meaning no antisocial wake-up calls.
23:03Instead, a lazy walk to Parc Fermet
23:06to collect their bikes from where they left them overnight,
23:09having serviced them themselves as per the marathon stage rules.
23:15It was a tense start to the day for America's Skyler Howes.
23:18He'd repaired a leaking rear fuel tank the previous night in service
23:22and it would only be in the stage that he'd find out
23:26whether that temporary seal would hold or not.
23:31It held.
23:33Howes went third fastest.
23:36Prologue and Stage 1 winner Pablo Quintanilla
23:39made good use of a later start position to dominate,
23:43looking set to retake the overall lead
23:46until he picked up a two-minute penalty for speeding,
23:49which means he lay second overall,
23:52just 43 seconds behind teammate Ejen van Beveren.
23:58Toby Price had ridden smart on the KTM,
24:02finishing fifth and sixth on the first two days,
24:05ensuring a safe start position
24:07without sacrificing too much time in the overall fight.
24:13But after Quintanilla's penalty,
24:15Price was promoted to stage winner,
24:17meaning he'd open the next day
24:19and he'd need to nail it to reel in the Hondas in front.
24:25Just 43 seconds between the Hondas of van Beveren and Quintanilla
24:29and what could Toby Price do over the last two days?
24:38Local hero Abdulaziz Ali was hoping for his third
24:41Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge win in a row
24:43and so far everything was going according to plan.
24:47The Emirati took another stage victory on day three
24:50to extend his overall advantage.
24:55With only two stages remaining,
24:57the Emirati was edging ever closer to his hat-trick of wins.
25:07Day three, disaster for rally leader Nasser Alatiyah.
25:18With victory on the first two stages,
25:20Nasser Alatiyah had asserted himself at the top of the leaderboard.
25:24The Qatari sped through day three,
25:26fastest at each control point, seemingly without dramas.
25:29But when he arrived at the finish,
25:31it was clear he'd had a major accident.
25:34It had been just ten kilometres from the end.
25:36The car was wrecked.
25:40The Toyota's safety cell had done its job.
25:42Nasser and co-driver Mathieu Baumel were OK,
25:45but the team will have plenty of work to do
25:47to be ready for the next event,
25:49Mexico's Sonora Rally at the end of April.
25:56It was really a fast suction, no danger, nothing.
26:00But suddenly we find a small step from the sand,
26:05you know, from the wind.
26:06And this was in sixth gear.
26:08And just we, we crashed three, four times.
26:12And we land in the wheel and nothing left in the cars,
26:17everything destroyed.
26:18But we try to, to manage and to finish the stage.
26:21And we finish.
26:22The FIA decide, you know, to not continue
26:25because I think something damaged, you know, in the roll cage.
26:31Martin Prokop now found himself a fraction over ten minutes off the lead
26:36with two days still to go.
26:42Always within a couple of minutes of Alatia,
26:45Sebastian Loeb finished the stage just 48 seconds adrift.
26:49But as his Qatari rival had retired,
26:52he took the bonus points for the stage win.
26:56And with Alatia now guaranteed to score nothing in Abu Dhabi,
27:00the pressure was on low to perform and to finish.
27:09South African Henk Lattigan was on the attack.
27:12Unable to match the pace of the two leaders,
27:14he was enjoying a tight battle for third fastest
27:16with fellow Toyota driver Yazeed Al-Raji,
27:19where the gap was rarely more than a minute and often much less.
27:28Alatia was still fastest through the stage.
27:31So, of course, that time won't count.
27:33So, Al-Raji claims the victory ahead of Prokof and Krotov in the mini.
27:38And in the overall standings, Alatia is out as well.
27:42Yazeed Al-Raji now finds himself as the leader.
27:53Mitch Guthrie, no longer in the fight for overall honours after day one dramas,
27:57was now looking good to pick up points for stage wins.
28:00And he did just that quickest in T3.
28:07Still in the lead of the class at the midway point was Seth Quintero.
28:11The American hadn't been on the top step of the podium since Rally du Maroc last year.
28:16But that all looked likely to change in Abu Dhabi.
28:25Today was an awesome day, actually.
28:27We did a phenomenal job. Dennis did a great job.
28:30I think we extended our overall lead to close to 30 minutes today.
28:33So, awesome day today for the overall.
28:36Sandy, as always, my eyes hurt.
28:38Love-hate relationship with the Dunes for sure.
28:41So Quintero continued to lead, over 27 minutes clear of Austin Jones in second place.
28:49And for those entered in the full Rally Raid World Championship,
28:52this is how it all looked with two days to go.
29:03Day three in the Dunes and Spain's Pao Navarro was once again third at the finish line,
29:08but now only 17 seconds ahead of his Emirati rival.
29:18Void by his day two victory, local hero Mansoor Alhele kept attacking,
29:23swapping seconds with world champion Rokas Bacchuska in search of another stage win.
29:34For two days, Bacchuska had used three words to sum up his stage.
29:38It was hot.
29:40The Lithuanian was just one second behind at the final passage control
29:44and a 30-kilometre sprint to the finish would clinch the win for him.
29:48It was indeed hot.
29:51There was quite nice road.
29:53There was some straights, some dunes.
29:56It was really fun to drive.
29:57I am confident, you know, but you never know.
30:00Sometimes you can do mistake, you know, you cannot see the drop and something
30:03and you can broke the bag.
30:06The battle for the podium in T4 continued to rage with changes possible at any moment.
30:14And there was still plenty at stake for the W2RC contenders
30:18and 500 more kilometres of punishing dunes lay ahead.
30:28For me, the passion of being in a machine is very big.
30:34I love being in cars.
30:39I am Mansoor Alhele.
30:40I am a driver for Team Abu Dhabi 360 in Can-Am T4.
30:50I am happy to compete with people who come from many events like Dakar, Haile, and many international events.
30:59For me, racing against them shows my potential.
31:04On a straightforward dancer, I grew up in this environment.
31:08My father used to race nearly 40 years ago.
31:11And every father loves teaching his skills to his children.
31:15So I've been taught by him.
31:18And for me, he's the best.
31:23I can start from personal life.
31:27I can start from racing.
31:28Till this day, he will keep on giving me tricks and techniques in the sand.
31:34Even today.
31:35He will always keep on giving me those tricks.
31:42Behind the wheel, it's a different feeling.
31:44Behind the wheel, you're thinking of the specific stage you're in.
31:50You're not worried about anything else.
31:53You're in your mode of racing.
31:58My goal and vision is very simple.
32:03I would love to win a World Championship.
32:06I know I am capable of it.
32:09I know I will make it one day.
32:13It's not only representing me or my family at the end of the day.
32:18It's representing your country.
32:21That flag on the car, I want to lift it high
32:24and have my national anthem on every event I go in.
32:27I am capable of it.
32:39I know I am capable of it.
32:39Unusually foggy conditions greeted the competitors before stage four.
32:46Officials were forced to delay the start on safety and sporting grounds.
32:57They can't ride in the fog, and if they can ride in the fog, the visibility is enough.
33:05The helicopters need to be able to land for safety purposes, so we have to have clearance
33:09basically from the riders and from the helicopters.
33:14The fog eventually lifted, and when it did, the fun and games could begin.
33:23Stage 4 presented by Alphatone Motors Toyota, 308 kilometres of race action for the bikes,
33:29but as a result of the late start, the cars would only complete 173.
33:43Opening the stage was day three winner Toby Price, and despite the Australian's experience,
33:48first into the sand is always the hardest task of all.
33:52Lying third overall, Price had to nail his navigation, but he was soon caught by Pablo Quintanilla,
33:58and not long after that, Skylar Howes joined the party.
34:02Inevitably, Price lost time.
34:03The question was how much.
34:05He crossed the finish line, and it wasn't good news.
34:07He dropped nearly nine minutes from third to sixth overall.
34:13But this is where Pablo Quintanilla's rally ended, stranded in the desert dunes.
34:18It's a rare sight, but his Honda CRF450 had cried enough, and the Chilean's fight for the
34:24overall win was over.
34:36The overall leader was Ejen van Beveren.
34:39His performance on day four would be critical, as to decide whether or not he would take his
34:45first Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge win.
34:55I tried a different strategy for this race, but it's always difficult to know where you're
35:00going to be.
35:00I think I've been on the better side than at the Dakar, and it looks like it's going well,
35:07but still one day to go, and we will keep really focused.
35:11Luciano Benavides on the Husqvarna, riding fast and smart, won the stage by over three minutes.
35:18To position himself comfortably in second overall, challenging for victory with one day to go.
35:31Van Beveren remained the leader from Benavides, with Corneo holding a slim 24 second advantage
35:37over Branch in the fight for third.
35:47The dark cloud that descended over Sebastian Loeb after just 30 kilometres of the Abu Dhabi
35:52Desert Challenge did have a silver lining.
35:55The W2RC Championship leader's closest rival, Nasser Alatia, had retired on day three after
36:01a sixth gear crash, meaning he'd score nothing, while the Frenchman picked up five bonus points
36:06as the winner of the stage.
36:08With another win on day four, Loeb had already pocketed ten bonus points with five more possible,
36:14but he had to reach the finish line to claim them.
36:17So he and his co-driver continued mixing speed with caution, avoiding all the hazards the
36:23desert could throw at them.
36:27Finishing the rally was vital for Sebastian Loeb, it was doubly so for Yazid Al-Raji.
36:33The Saudi and German co-driver Timur Gottschalk held a near nine minute lead overnight,
36:38with the prospect of a massive win just two days away.
36:42But there was a lot more than just glory at stake.
36:44Even without a stage win, victory would catapult Al-Raji to joint third in the W2RC title race.
36:55The stakes were extremely high.
36:59In the world, we are leading the stage.
37:01We don't need to fight with the stage and take mistake and lose everything.
37:06Now I have again motivation after this race.
37:08We can go Argentina, maximum Morocco.
37:11Before my plan, Argentina, not sure.
37:13Now, sure I go.
37:19Abu Dhabi was turning into quite a remarkable rally for Martin Prokop.
37:24When you start an event with two cars from Toyota Gazza Racing and two from BRX ProDrive in the field,
37:30you largely assume you might be battling for a spot in the top six at best.
37:35Lying second after three days, Prokop chased the leader through the shortened stage,
37:40losing less than a minute to Al-Hadri's Toyota while strengthening his hold on second.
37:49While the gaps on the podium will be tough to close,
37:52the battle for fourth is a close one with 200 kilometres left in which to decide it.
37:59If Sebastian Loeb finishes, he'll have established a big lead over Nasser Al-Atea without having won an event.
38:15In the T3 prototype class, Matthias Engström, who retired again on day three, was back at it once more.
38:22The Swede had nothing to lose and alongside co-driver Emil Bergqvist,
38:26blasted through the dunes to go quickest of the T3s and unbelievably second quickest across all the car categories.
38:33Only Sebastian Loeb was quicker.
38:48Overall leader Seth Quintero was also dicing with the T1 cars.
38:52He really didn't need to push but still went second fastest
38:56and with just one stage remaining, led the class by over 28 minutes.
39:02The stage for us today was great. I mean, today we did what we could to stay safe
39:06and, you know, try to get another top five hopefully to grab some more points
39:09but today was a day to manage for sure.
39:15Victory was looking like a foregone conclusion for Quintero
39:19but if disaster struck, Austin Jones was there to pick up the pieces.
39:22So he was taking no risks over three and a half minutes down
39:26but comfortably in second overall.
39:32Quintero fast and reliable, leading from teammate Jones, all to play for behind.
39:39And this is how things stand in the W2RC.
39:42A win at Dakar and second here would be a great result for Austin Jones.
39:56Third on each of the first three stages, young Spaniard Pao Navarro lay second overall.
40:02But on the shortened stage four, there was nothing he could do
40:05to hold off local hero, Mansoor El Hele.
40:09What I really enjoyed was this last section with dunes.
40:13The only interesting part because the other stage was all straight with summit.
40:20T4 world champion Rokos Pachewska was striking a balance between speed and caution.
40:26He could afford to spare a few seconds in the dunes
40:29and even if he lost time at the same rate on the final day,
40:32the mats certainly favoured the Red Bull driver.
40:35Safe stage, you know, to go and broke the car and just to see how it's going on.
40:39Tomorrow is the last day and I think we are in good gap
40:43and yeah, tomorrow we will see how it will be.
40:50The target for UAE duo Mansoor El Hele and Mohamed El Hamri
40:54was to stand proudly on the top step of the podium with their national anthem playing.
40:59They were third fastest overall on the shortened stage,
41:03taking three and a half minutes out of the T4 leader.
41:08And the Emirates driver reckoned it could have been better still.
41:12I was disappointed when they say to me today the stage will be cut in half.
41:17The longer the better I can reduce my gap.
41:20But it was fun.
41:21We reached the finish line. This is the ultimate goal.
41:28So the local hero trailed Rokos Pachewska by 14 minutes and 50 seconds.
41:33A 15 minute penalty for a missed waypoint on stage two.
41:37All that denied him the lead.
41:39And with Pachewska still the favourite for maximum points,
41:42he was looking set to race away from his W2RC rivals.
42:03The 371km Abu Dhabi Aviation stage would bring the competitors back to Abu Dhabi City,
42:09and to the end of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
42:27Muscovano rider Luciano Benavides was first into the stage and riding to hang on to his second place overall,
42:34which meant not making any navigational errors.
42:37Of course, he would lose time, but could he limit the damage?
42:42Using all his experience, he posted the seventh fastest time,
42:46but with bonus points awarded, it was enough to confirm second place overall.
42:56Australia's Toby Price simply flew.
42:59He came into the final stage down in sixth overall, but he was blowing everybody else out of the water.
43:06And as he cleared the final waypoint, a podium finish was on, but it would be close.
43:11Incredibly, he had done just enough to steal third.
43:17Races are quite close, and yeah, we're happy.
43:21So it's a good championship point, but yeah, it would be nice to be a little bit further up.
43:25But all in all, it's been a good rally.
43:31On his factory Honda, Ajahn van Beveren was the most consistent rider, finishing every single stage inside the top five.
43:38He nailed his navigation at every turn and simply made no mistakes.
43:44Add all of that together and you have the recipe to win at this level.
43:48The overall winner in the bikes, Ajahn van Beveren.
43:52It's crazy. You are riding alone all day, pushing as hell, risking your life, giving all.
43:57And it's nice to get a win.
44:01Another win with the Honda and I feel really happy with the team.
44:08Van Beveren victorious then, but look at the gap between Price and Corneo. Just two seconds.
44:17And for our W2RC contenders, this is how the points stack up. Price leads by four after the Abu Dhabi
44:24Desert Challenge.
44:29French youngster Jean-Luc Lepin came into the final day leading the Rally 2 category, but third in the stage
44:35was not enough to hang on.
44:37Nevertheless, he ended this week a very creditable second.
44:47The winner was Austrian hotshot Tobias Ebster.
44:51Heinz Kindergarteners' young nephew claimed the Rally 2 victory at his first time of trying in Abu Dhabi.
45:06Mansoor El Halle and co-driver Mohammed Alhamri always faced a tough task trying to overhaul the rally leader.
45:12But the Emirati duo were justifiably bursting with pride, second on their home event.
45:18And barring that 15-minute penalty from missing waypoints, they could well have secured a fantastic T4 win.
45:26I'm really proud of that. Yesterday I finished behind the top cars.
45:31Yes, we had a mistake with the waypoint, but I'm happy with my navigator.
45:36Being second with the penalty, reducing the gap, that's amazing.
45:44With three stage wins and victory in T4, it had been a great event for reigning world champion Rokas Pachuska.
45:49He'd matched his Emirati rivals blow for blow to claim a well-judged win.
45:56It was a tough rally. The target is to defend the champion because last year I was champion.
46:03And I hope we can fight and we can take the points and we will see you in Mexico.
46:13Always one of the favourites for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Rokas Pachuska had certainly delivered.
46:22A convincing win for Pachuska and a fantastic result for the local heroes.
46:30And as he continues to try and defend his world championship, these points may be crucial for Pachuska.
46:49Mitch Guthrie's 11th place finish doesn't reflect his pace in Abu Dhabi.
46:54The American notched up two stage wins and there's no question he would have been right in the fight for
46:58overall honours
46:59had he not run into trouble on day one.
47:11W2RC Championship leader and double Dakar winner Austin Jones played second fiddle to teammate Seth Quintero all week.
47:18He was happy enough to take the runner-up spot and the championship points
47:22because he knows there is more pace there when he needs it.
47:30On the top step of the podium for the first time since Rally du Maroc last year, 21 year old
47:36Seth Quintero.
47:39Drawing on the experienced Dennis Sense alongside him and of course his natural raw pace proved to be the winning
47:45formula.
47:46Quintero claimed a first Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge victory.
47:52This rally was absolutely amazing. Had a lot of fun all week. Stoked to come away with the overall win.
47:56Looks like we ended up getting third overall car as well, which is absolutely amazing.
48:00Great week for the points in the championship. Took over the overall lead.
48:03Got the win. Got a couple of stage wins. So really couldn't have asked for a better week.
48:06A well-deserved victory for Quintero. Nearly 28 minutes clear of Austin Jones.
48:11With Hernán Garces Echaviera closing out the podium spots.
48:15And victory for Quintero in Abu Dhabi means he now leads T3 in the world championships.
48:32Two entirely different battles again raged on the final stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
48:38The battle for the stage win. And the battle for overall victory.
48:50Sebastian Loeb went head to head with Henk Lettigen. The Frenchman trying to claim five bonus points.
48:56The South African equally determined to finish with his first stage win.
49:00In the end, the Toyota driver managed to eke out a slender advantage over his rival. Just two minutes and
49:07two seconds.
49:24A few points for the championship, but that was important.
49:27Nasser gave us a present with his mistakes. So we are still in the lead of the championship. So that's
49:35not bad for the future.
49:39After a week knocking on the door of the top six, the final day saw Sebastian Halpen posting the third
49:45fastest time as he raced to fourth in T1.
49:48The best Mini at the finish. A minute and a half off the class podium.
49:53After two days of ups and downs, Argentina's Juan Cruz Iacopini was looking likely to finish fourth.
49:59Until Mini driver Denis Krotov had an accident early on, leaving Iacopini to grab the final podium spot in T1.
50:13Third on the Dakar at the start of the year. Martin Prokhov held a podium spot in Abu Dhabi from
50:18the midway point.
50:19The Ford Raptor had been fast and reliable all week, giving the Czech and his co-driver Viktor Cikta every
50:26opportunity to shine.
50:27Second overall, and they would climb from fifth to third in the W2RC standings.
50:34It was quite the week for Yazeed Al-Rajib. When the front runners stumbled, Yazeed and co-driver Tino Gottschalk
50:42focused on the big prize,
50:44mingling speed with caution over the remaining two days to go what better than 2016 and claim overall victory.
50:57Really happy first Saudi win in this 32 years in Abu Dhabi. Not easy rally.
51:03A lot of dunes like you are in the sea of dunes. And see you in Mexico.
51:14Plotting a safe course through the seas of dunes, the overdrive racing duo sailed to victory on the Abu Dhabi
51:19Desert Challenge
51:20atop an ever-changing podium. A Toyota, a Raptor and a T3 Can-Am.
51:27Who could have picked that overall car podium?
51:31And somehow, despite his stage one disaster, Sebastian Loeb now sits 16 points clear in W2RC.
51:39But what will Mexico bring?
51:43To the victors, the spoils. Another breathless Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is done.
51:51But the chase for the W2RC titles moves on to Mexico.
51:56And we will see you there for more mayhem.
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